The New York City Police Department said on Thursday that it is investigating a Sept. 15 attack, in which an assailant spat at a 49-year-old man and made antisemitic comments, as a hate crime.
The attack, which is being probed as an instance of aggravated harassment, took place at around 11:15 p.m. near Nostrand and Park Avenues in Brooklyn, a site that is within several blocks of at least half a dozen synagogues.
The suspect fled on a bicycle, and no injuries were reported, the NYPD said.
The department released images of the suspect, whom it described as a “male with a dark complexion,” who was “last seen wearing a dark-colored shirt and pants.”
Anti-Jewish hate crimes surged 182% in January, in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first month in office, and since then, Jews, who are about 10% of New Yorkers, have been the targets of most religion-based hate crimes in the Big Apple.
